Tag: Florida Hotels
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A Year Away, Four Seasons Disney Has Its First Opening Rates
Well, color us surprised. Four Seasons Orlando at Walt Disney World might still be a year away from opening, but hot on the heels of its GM appointment, the apparent interest in the 434-room resort is already so significant that a first series of rates for meetings and groups has been released. Talk about planning ahead.
We’ll get to those rates in a second, but alongside there’s an indication what us normal people will be paying to live it up with Mickey. Unfortunately, the same seems to hold true here as it does for Disney itself these days: bring your wallet. Rooms will start at $595 in September 2014, going up to $645 from October onwards. Family packages aside, with a room and one-day admission for four, you’re looking at a grand a day just like that. Eeeek.
Hotel Bars / Miami Hotel Mambo / Hotel Cocktails / Florida Hotels / → All Tags
A Mini Guide To Miami Hotels' $5 Happy Hours
Now that we know rooftop and terrace season is alive and pippin', we'd be remiss if we didn't address one thing--these booze-fueled outdoor antics can get pricey. It seems the higher the floor the bar's located, the more expensive the drink!
That's why we decided to head south to that delicious city called Miami where you can find a variety of hotspots showcasing happy hours for a song. Some are rooftop situations, others aren't. The point is you can have a good time without breaking the bank.
We urge other hoteliers to figure out a way to emulate these four fantastic bars.
EPIC Hotel:
This Biscayne Blvd hotel's Area 51 rooftop terrace has a nightly "Veuve on the Clock" Happy Hour beginning at 5pm with $5 champagne by the glass until 6pm. The flute cost raises by just one dollar until 8pm. There's also a new menu of small bites, grilled fare, and curated cocktails to celebrate summer. To make those bubbles even more fun to sip, there's a DJ mixing for the crowd from Wednesdays through Saturdays from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Great for the afterwork crowd and those who can't manage to hang until midnight when most Miami clubs get started.
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There's a New Beachfront Resort Coming to Florida (With Apple TV Too!)
All right, so here we go: Apple TV is digging its heels in the hotel industry.
When The Pearl, a 55-room luxury resort, opens in July on Rosemary Beach Florida, it will offer Apple TV in all its rooms. Is it ironic that an establishment on a beautiful stretch of beach is upgrading your television-watching ability? Totally!
We've hashed out our torn opinions about the value of in-room technology and its effects on the art of travel, especially when it drives up the room rate, but we do know that there are many travelers who will be quite pleased by this news (some of us included!). For those who've just come out of hibernation, Apple TV will allow you to stream shows and movies from iTunes and Netflix right to your hotel room.
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World's Largest Econo Lodge to Open in Orlando... Do Its Extra Perks Signal a Change in Direction?
Say goodbye to the Metropolitan Resort on International Drive in Orlando. This fall, it will become the world's largest Econo Lodge with a "whopping" 297 rooms.
A small part of us chuckles that the world's largest Econo Lodge will humbly boast under 300 rooms, but we suppose it's a nice step for the typically small motel chain as far as novelty goes. Perhaps more important than the size of the property is the extra perks that are not normally seen at Econo Lodges such as an on-site delicatessen and free in-room Wi-Fi, coffee makers, refrigerators, and ironing boards. It will also have a partnership with the adjacent YMCA Aquatic Center, allowing guests free access to its three indoor pools, fitness center, and indoor racquetball courts.
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Dive Into These Summer Hotel Deals for $109 and Less
Deals: you want 'em, and surprisingly, everyone has 'em. Take a look at some of the latest hotel deals going around the internet today from booking sites, social media sites, flash sale sites and more. Don't forget to scroll down to see the HotelChatter-approved deal either. Who knows? You might just find what you're looking for. (But don't forget to tell us about your stay!)
DEALS, DEALS, DEALS*
· One-Day Sale for the Hotel Valley Ho: Shake off your Cinco de Mayo hangover and get ready for Hotel Valley Ho's annual one day sale on Monday, May 6. Rooms start at $89 every Sunday through Friday and $109 on Saturdays from Memorial Day through Labor Day. The deal also includes two drinks upon arrival, upgraded internet, $20 nightly resort credit and some other discounted services. There's really no catch to the low rates other than it's summer in the desert so it will be HOTT and that all reservations require a non-refundable deposit of one night’s room and tax at time of booking. Go here on Monday, May 6, to book. You can even set up a reminder email too.
· Marriott's "Suntastic Savings" at 30 Hotels in Florida: Once again, 30 JW Marriott, Renassaince, Marriott and Gaylord Hotels and Resorts in Florida are discounting their rates and throwing in perks like free meals for kids and complimentary internet. (Normally, you have to pay for that.) The offers are good for travel from May 15 to Sept 30 and vary depending on the region. For 25 percent off rates on three or more nights in the Northwest Coast of Fla., use promo code ZZ1. For Florida's playground resorts, use code F8L which will get you 15 percent off, free meals for kids and a $25 resort credit. Heading to South Florida? Then use code SUM which will get you 15 percent off rates, free meals for kids and free internet or other welcome amenity. Rates start around $99 a night. Go to Summer Suntastic Savings to start planning your stay.
· Hot Time, Summer in The Crescent City: New Orleans may be sizzling in the summer time thanks to events like the New Orleans Food and Wine Experience (May 21-May 25 and the Essence Music Festival (July 4-7) but the Courtyard New Orleans Downtown/Iberville in the French Quarter is keeping it cool with rates starting at just $109 a night from May 12-Sept. 30. To make your rezzie, go here and use promo code WBZ.
· Why Stay In When You Could Go To The Out?: Just in time for Pride Season next month, The Out NYC has dropped the rate for it's Shared Luxury Accommodations to just $99 a night. That also includes a daily spa pass (a $50 value) which give access to the hotel's full-service spa and three courtyards. Of course the term "shared" should alert you to the fact that you will be sharing a room with up to four people but there are full-sized beds, personal TVs, a bathroom and shower and best of all, privacy curtains. Go here to book your stay.
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What’s Out, What’s In: Hotel Restaurants Get In the Game
Now that's what we call a hearty piece of meat!
We've started a series of what’s trending in hotels these days: What’s Out, What’s In. Do we like what we see? Think it's a dud? You be the judge!
What's Out: Grass-fed beef and local poultry
What's In: Local wild game dishes
With the meteoric rise of culinary tourism and the fact that pretty much everyone wants a good meal, hotel restaurants have had to increase their game (we’re so funny...) and look for new ways to impress you gourmands out there.
Sorrel River Ranch near Moab, UT, is wedged between Arches and Canyonlands National Parks on the banks of the Colorado River. The ranch has a – get this -- Garden Manager who tends to two acres of organic produce (fantastic!) which finds its way into the hands of the chef, along with local wild game. The chef’s newest creation? Rabbit and Rattlesnake Sausage with Utah Peach Preserves and Baby Greens.
For more gamey goodness, read on!
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'Spring Breakers' Got Down and Dirty At Abandoned St Pete Hotel
For an indie flick, the hyper-raunchy Spring Breakers did pretty well at the box office over opening weekend. Not that we're too surprised—with two former Disney stars in bikinis and James Franco playing a cornrowed rapper called 'Alien,' the movie was bound to pique a fair amount of curiosity.
Tampa Bay natives will recognize the local ice cream parlor, liquor store and police station that make cameos in the film, but for Spring Breakers' most iconic scene, director Harmony Korine rounded up a bunch of real life spring breakers drinking real life booze to stage a real life pool party. The venue of choice? An abandoned hotel located on the grounds of the Coral Reef Resort.
According to multiple TripAdvisor reviews, the "abandoned pink building" located in the front of the resort is something of an eyesore for actual guests, but for Korine's purposes, the crumbling edifice worked just fine.
He told Ain't It Cool:
"The party scenes were chaos. There were thousands of kids in abandoned hotels just destroying things...and that’s the thing about chaos, it’s chaos. It’s almost impossible to control. So that was pretty intense."
Phew. We're glad it wasn't us down in St Pete last spring. These guys make Justin Bieber antics seem almost civilized.
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Say Hello to Pompano Beach's First New Hotel In 10 Years
Poor Pompano Beach must feel like the ignored older sibling sometimes in the shadow of attention-greedy Miami. After all, it's Miami where flashy new hotels like SLS, The James, and Freehand are opening, and it's Miami that attracts all the celebs.
But Pompano Beach is getting tired of playing second fiddle. So it's taking affirmative action with a buzzy new hotel opening in July: the 219-room Ft Lauderdale Marriott Pompano Beach Oceanfront will be the area's first hotel in over a decade.
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A Day of Openings, Closings, and Revivals for Ritz Hotels
Today seems to be a banner day for Ritz-Carlton Hotel news, we've got three pieces of juicy goss that just needs to be shared. Here's the tea:
In our recent Abandoned Hotels story, we lamented the construction of Molasses Reef, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve resort had been languishing untouched in the Turk and Caicos since 2008 (it began in 2001) and showed no signs of ever coming to fruition. Well, a miracle has happened and the project is back on! According to HotelsMag.com, they've received confirmation on the private (you can only arrive by boat, small plane or helicopter) 125-unit resort's opening from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.
HotelChatter also checked with our RC sources, and the luxury Caribbean resort is indeed a go. We were told an official release will soon come. European developers have taken over with an apparent $130 million investment to complete a project that's already had $300 million sunk into it by previous interested party, Logwood Development. Construction is expected to resume this year (keep your fingers crossed).
But wait, there's more Ritz-Carlton rumblings for ya!
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Celebrate Pi Day With These Delicious Hotel Pies
Today is Pi Day (3.14/Π) and if you need a quick geometry recap, that's the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Pi is abbreviated to 3.14 but continues indefinitely, to over 1.2 trillion digits, in fact. Basically, this is a math geek day of celebration (hey, the US House of Representatives officially supported the day's designation in 2009).
Naturally the hotel sector capitalizes on it too, by offering gimmicky deals. That's when our ears perk up--because we're not proud of those math grades of yesteryear, so this we can handle. Don't judge. We're sensitive.
The Charles Hotel in Boston says they’re “recognizing the great minds of Cambridge” by moving the decimal point one space and giving a 31.4% discount on room and suite reservations made today for any night from March 19 - April 2, 2013. Rates begin at $339. Book online or call 800-882-1818 with rate code PI2013.
There are five pizza pies on the BLT Bar & Grill menu at New York's W Downtown, and they're pretty fancy. But if you want to show your love of Pi and throw in a little salute to St. Patrick's Day to boot, go for the Brussels Sprouts Pizza, which has butternut squash, bacon, cippolini onions, and a copious amount of shaved green sprouts on the top. Festive!
What is This / Hotel Art / Florida Hotels / Marriott Hotels / → All Tags
What Is This at The Marco Island Marriott?
It took us a few minutes to realize this gorgeous creature at the Marco Island Marriott wasn't made of stone or plaster, but rather, plain sand.
Her name is Margo and she was created by Dale Messick, best known as the cartoonist behind the Brenda Starr comic strip. This sand version was created by artist John Gowdy and sits in the hotel's stairwell, and is a sight to be hold, especially lit up at night. This is an actual replica of the bronze-statue of the Margo character made in 1966 by sculptor Tony Lopez.
You can see her in all her glory after the jump.
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Ian Schrager to Open 26 Residences at Miami Beach Edition
What happened seventeen years ago? We barely graduated high school (well, some of us). More importantly, it was the last time hotelier Ian Schrager gave face to Miami Beach with the Delano. Now, almost two decades later, he's back to shake things up again with a ground-breaking project that involves rich people being insanely happy with their homes.
The hotel mogul just announced he'll set a new bar with the Residences at the upcoming Miami Edition, slated for an early 2014 debut. There will be 26 limited-edition residences some say will be different than anything else in Miami. Ooh, the suspense! Not really, because we have all the dish. Basically, they're being touted as "Homes in the Sky." Literally.
They'll be perched on the top floors of the existing landmark 1950s building that will be the Miami Beach Edition hotel with some residences in the adjacent, newly constructed 18-story tower. All will have panoramic views, each with that sophisticated and arty Schrager touch. They'll also be custom made with a private entrance.
